Pop Mart Opens First Bakery With Labubu Character Treats
Pop Mart, the Chinese toy maker behind the Labubu character, has opened its first international bakery in Singapore, offering 45 dessert items featuring its collectible characters. The company plans further expansion across Southeast Asia a
Pop Mart, the Beijing-based collectible toy maker behind the wildly popular Labubu character with its distinctive sharp-toothed smile, is venturing into the bakery business with its first international location in Singapore. The company has transformed its famous characters into three-dimensional edible desserts, including Labubu black sesame ice cream bars and Molly double cheesecake, available at a two-story bakery opposite Universal Studios Singapore. The store offers 45 menu items inspired by its toys, priced from 5-32 Singapore dollars (130-830 baht).
Singapore marks the beginning of Pop Mart's bakery expansion strategy. Zhang Xiaoyun, head of Pop Bakery, said the company is considering opening locations in Europe and the United States, depending on timing and supply chain management in each country. The company also plans to expand across Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
This expansion follows Pop Mart's first bakery opening in Qinghuangdao in northern China last April, after testing the concept through over 30 pop-up dessert carts across China. The move comes as the company faces rising production costs and analyst questions about business sustainability, with recent quarterly sales and profits growing below market expectations.
Laura Pan, a professor at SDA Bocconi School of Management, noted that Pop Bakery serves as an excellent diversification tool, as the toy business has natural growth limitations. However, she cautioned that the popularity of Labubu has begun to wane, and consumer reception in the U.S. market remains uncertain.
Following global success with plush toys, keychains, and collectibles, Pop Mart is pursuing expansion beyond toy retail. The company has stated its ambition to follow Disney's path, transforming temporary fame into long-term business success. This year, Pop Mart announced a partnership with Sony Pictures to develop a Labubu film and opened an expansion of its Pop Land theme park in Beijing.
"We hope to integrate our intellectual property into every aspect of consumers' lives, and desserts are one of them," Zhang said. He added that Pop Mart is proud to transform its characters into three-dimensional edible desserts, while other entertainment companies like Disney typically use only two-dimensional designs or plastic decorations on desserts.
